Feed-regulator



(No Model.)

J. A. MOANULTY.

FEED REGULATOR.

No. 394,278. Patented Dec. 11, 1888! by? mama UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. )ICANULTY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FEED-REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,278, dated December 11, 1888. Application filed $eptember 30, 1885. Renewed January 21, 1888. Serial No. 281,536. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. MCANULTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, (formerly of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of (.alifornia,) have invented certain new and useful Improvmnents in Feed Regulators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My inventimi relates to improvements in mechanism for connecting yicldin feed-gates to hoppers forflonr-mill mach inery; and the object of my improvement is to provide a means by which flour-mill stock, or other material being fed, is prevented from passing the ends of the yielding feed-gates by which the working of the feed-gates may not be impaired by sweating or by the accumulation of soft stock or foreign substances at their ends, thus insuring a free and unolmtructed movement of the yielding feed-gates. These objects I attain by use of the devices illustrated by the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a broken elevation of the discharge side of a hopper. Fig. 2 is a sectional end view of Fig. l, in which the feed-gate is shown closed. Fig. 3 is a sectional end view of Fig. 1, showing the feed-gate open. 4 is an end sectional view of a hopper, in which a vibrating shelf forms the hopper-bottom. Fig. 5 is an end sectional view of a feed-h0pper, in which the feed-gate is held normally closed by means of a spring.

In the drawings, Zrepresents the front and back walls of a hopper, which are preferably perpendicular, but may be made slanting.

The hopper-bottom may be a revolving roll, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, or may be a shelf, as shown in Fig &.

A gate, 4, is constructed to form the front wall of the hopper in any convenientmanner which will allow it to swing back as the weight of the stock accumulates within the hopper.

To the ends of the yielding feed-gates 4 are fixed inwardly-projecting pieces, 5, which extend beyond the inner surfaces of the feedgates-commonly one and one-half to two and one-half inches and are overlapped on their inner surfaces by projecting guard-pieces (l, which are attached to the end walls of the hoppers in such a manner as to receive the pressure of the stock contained within the hoppers, thus allowing a free movement of the end pieces, 5, outside of the shieldpieces, ti, which form the contact-surfaces of the hoppers from their lower tcrminuses upward above the gai 0. ends. The end pieces, 5, and shield pieces (3 should be made of thin metal not liable to rust. If wood is used, the edges facing toward the yielding gate should be made very thin and the colrtact-surfaces completely smooth. By thus constructing the guard-pieces I; of thin material their edges facing toward the yielding gate will not form any obstruction to the free movement of the gate when closing.

Figure 1 is a view of the discharge side of a hopper, in which a fced-roll forms its bottom and a yielding feed-gz'ite forms the lower part of the wall constituting the discharge side of the hopper. In this view it will be seen that spaces 7 are formed at each end of the hopper, in which the end pieces, 5, move freely as the gate swings to and fro. At the right-hand end the space '7 is formed by cutting away a portion of the end wall, 3, and attaching the shield-piece U to the end wall in such a manner as to form the inside contact-surface of the hopper, while at the left hand end the shield-piece o is curved inward from the hopper end sufficiently to form the space 7, in which the end piece, 5, moves. Fig. 2 is an end sectional view of the righthand end of Fig. 1, in which the yielding feedgate 4 is shown closed. 3 is a sectional end view showing the left-hand end of Fig. 1 and in which the yielding feed-gate 4 appears open. Fig. I is an end sectional view of a feed-hopper, in which the hopper-bottom is a shelf, and a yielding feedgate, at, forms the lower portion of the discharge-wall of the hopper, and in which the shield-pieces 6 form the contact-surfaces over the end pieces, 5. In Fig. 5 the discharge-wall of the hopper is shown inclined and the yielding gate held normally closed by means of a spring arranged to yield to the necessities of the fiow of stock.

It will be seen that in all the foregoing figures the shield-pieces 6 have precisely the same relation to the end pieces, 5, their function being to prevent the passage of the stock past the ends of the feed-gates to prevent foreign substances from becoming lodged against the feed-gate ends and to allow a free and unobstructed movement of the gates 4 and their end pieces, 5.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new is In a feed-regulator, the combination of a hopper having end walls provided with guard or shield pieces attached to the inner sides thereof, with a yielding gate provided with end pieces projecting inward between said end walls and guide or shield pieces, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix in y signature in presence of two witnesses.

J OIIN A. MCANULTY. \Vitnesses:

WM. MUSSER, \VILLIAM FITCH. 

